• Oloo is accused of receiving a Sh17 million bribe
Image: FAITH MATETE
There was a fracas at the Kisumu county assembly on Tuesday as MCAs sought to pick a new speaker following Onyango Oloo's mentioning in the Lake Basin Mall case.
MCAs picked North Kisumu ward rep Elisha Oraro as the new speaker, which led to a commotion from a section of members who were dissatisfied.
The DPP last Friday called for the prosecution of Oloo over graft claims.
Oloo is accused of receiving a Sh17 million bribe to authorize irregularities in the building of the mall which led to the inflation of the cost from Sh2.1 billion to Sh4.1 billion.
Oloo denied the charges when he appeared at the Milimani law courts on Monday and was granted Sh10 million bail.
A total of 35 people have been mentioned in the mall case.
There was a fracas at the Kisumu county assembly on Tuesday as MCAs sought to pick a new speaker following Onyango Oloo's mentioning in the Lake Basin Mall case. See story https://bit.ly/2keV5j2
Some MCAs who sought anonymity said that they had a go ahead from ODM, to elect Oraro as the acting speaker.
"We were called by parliamentary group meeting for ODM members chaired by top party official from the county and they urged us to give votes to Oraro, "noted the MCA.
Chaos broke immediately in the afternoon when the sessions began, after the speaker of the day, Roy Samo who is also the deputy speaker, finished the house prayers, he sat to start the session but before uttering a word, one of the MCAs forcibly evicted him from the seat.
Samo was accused of shielding the speaker and immediately a section of the MCAs engaged in fist fight even as Samo adjourned the house to next week.
The serjeant-at-arms who were trying there best to protect the mace were not left behind, as some MCAs pushed them as another was slapped in the face.
This saw a section of the MCAs who are loyal to Oloo walk out in the assembly as others were ejected.
Clerks who were also present ran away from the chambers.
The MCAs claimed that Oloo should finish first with his graft case, because proceeeding and businesses at the assembly would not be stopped to let him finish with the acse.
However, one of the members of the Speaker's panel Inviolata Akinyi sat on the speakers sit and called the house to order, after which she later expunged the earlier rulling by Samo adjourning the house and proceeding with the session that saw Oraro elected as the speaker unopposed.
In the morning, tension was witnessed at the assembly as a contigent of police officers were deployed outside and inside the assembly premises.
They officers watched as several youths sang, danced as they say they wanted a new speaker and Oraro should be given the position.
They claimed they were tired with the leadership of the current speaker Oloo.
They further claimed that Oloo was undermining the executive.
However some MCAs who seeked anonymity said that they already have a go ahead of the party ODM, to elect Oraro as the acting speaker.
However the MCAs allied to Oloo claimed that the process would be illegal and they will not be party to it.